Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

iamsmrt · 2009-09-21 19:11:55

Vi isn't my strong suit so I decided to make nano my global editor by editing my /etc/profile file. However, whenever I do something like 'sudo crontab -e', it still opens it in vi, how can I force it to open in nano?

EDIT: I didn't really mind vi for edting before but I updated my system yesterday and the behavior of it's changed for some reason. Before I was able to use the arrow keys to navigate text files, even in insert mode but now, it inserts characters when I try to use the arrow keys in insert mode. So to edit the files, I have to enter insert mode, do the editing that I want in one location, exit insert mode, move onto the next location, etc. It's really annoying, that's the main reason I want to use nano instead.

-SMRT

Last edited by iamsmrt (2009-09-21 19:14:37)

milomouse · 2009-09-21 19:15:32

maybe add an entry in your shell configuration file, like with me I have:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim

I'm using ZSH shell so I added that to my ~/.zshrc file but I think it's the same for BASH (file: ~/.bashrc). Just replace it with your editor's path, or name.

Last edited by milomouse (2009-09-21 19:16:19)

iamsmrt · 2009-09-21 19:19:34

I think that's only for your user and doesn't work for root/sudo.

milomouse · 2009-09-21 19:24:38

You couldn't add export EDITOR=/usr/bin/nano in /etc/profile ? Or something like:

EDITOR="/usr/bin/nano"
export EDITOR

iamsmrt · 2009-09-21 19:28:26

Yea I've done that but in the nano entry on archwiki (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Nan … _with_nano):

/etc/profile (global settings for all system users except root)

Last edited by iamsmrt (2009-09-21 19:28:58)

ugkbunb · 2009-09-21 19:30:03

iamsmrt wrote:

I think that's only for your user and doesn't work for root/sudo.

couldn't u just make a .bashrc/.zshrc in your /root folder with the same export?

iamsmrt · 2009-09-21 19:45:44

ugkbunb wrote:

iamsmrt wrote:
I think that's only for your user and doesn't work for root/sudo.
couldn't u just make a .bashrc/.zshrc in your /root folder with the same export?

Tried it, it didn't work.

Doing that and editing my /etc/profile to export a VISUAL variable allows me to edit my crontab with nano when I'm logged in as root. However, when I try "sudo crontab -e" logged in as any user (including root), it opens my crontab in vi.

neddie_seagoon · 2009-09-22 00:06:39

Sudo will first clean out session variables for security, so to make it keep certain ones edit your Defaults line in 'visudo' like:
Defaults env_keep="variable1 variable2"

so in this case:
Defaults env_keep="EDITOR VISUAL"

sudo will then take your current variables and apply them to the new shell.

iamsmrt · 2009-09-22 00:38:48

neddie_seagoon wrote:

Sudo will first clean out session variables for security, so to make it keep certain ones edit your Defaults line in 'visudo' like:
Defaults env_keep="variable1 variable2"
so in this case:
Defaults env_keep="EDITOR VISUAL"
sudo will then take your current variables and apply them to the new shell.

That works, thanks!

iamsmrt · 2009-09-23 05:09:53

neddie_seagoon wrote:

Sudo will first clean out session variables for security, so to make it keep certain ones edit your Defaults line in 'visudo' like:
Defaults env_keep="variable1 variable2"
so in this case:
Defaults env_keep="EDITOR VISUAL"
sudo will then take your current variables and apply them to the new shell.

New problem though, whenever I type "sudo gedit foo.bar" I get:

(gedit:22424): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:

ugkbunb · 2009-09-23 06:03:45

does gksu give the same error?

iamsmrt · 2009-09-23 14:54:19

Ok that works, what's the difference between gksu and sudo?

Arch Linux

#1 2009-09-21 19:11:55

Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#2 2009-09-21 19:15:32

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#3 2009-09-21 19:19:34

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#4 2009-09-21 19:24:38

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#5 2009-09-21 19:28:26

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#6 2009-09-21 19:30:03

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#7 2009-09-21 19:45:44

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#8 2009-09-22 00:06:39

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#9 2009-09-22 00:38:48

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#10 2009-09-23 05:09:53

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#11 2009-09-23 06:03:45

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

#12 2009-09-23 14:54:19

Re: Making nano the global editor (including root user)?

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